scholarly journals Coding of odor stimulus features among secondary olfactory structures

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 736-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Z. Xia ◽  
Stacey Adjei ◽  
Daniel W. Wesson
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory System ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Odor Stimulus ◽  
Odor Perception ◽  
Odor Coding ◽  
Network Function ◽  
Complex Functions ◽  
Odor Exposure ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
The Brain

Sensory systems must represent stimuli in manners dependent upon a wealth of factors, including stimulus intensity and duration. One way the brain might handle these complex functions is to assign the tasks throughout distributed nodes, each contributing to information processing. We sought to explore this important aspect of sensory network function in the mammalian olfactory system, wherein the intensity and duration of odor exposure are critical contributors to odor perception. This is a quintessential model for exploring processing schemes given the distribution of odor information by olfactory bulb mitral and tufted cells into several anatomically distinct secondary processing stages, including the piriform cortex (PCX) and olfactory tubercle (OT), whose unique contributions to odor coding are unresolved. We explored the coding of PCX and OT neuron responses to odor intensity and duration. We found that both structures similarly partake in representing descending intensities of odors by reduced recruitment and modulation of neurons. Additionally, while neurons in the OT adapt to odor exposure, they display reduced capacity to adapt to either repeated presentations of odor or a single prolonged odor presentation compared with neurons in the PCX. These results provide insights into manners whereby secondary olfactory structures may, at least in some cases, uniquely represent stimulus features.

scholarly journals A transformation from temporal to ensemble coding in a model of piriform cortex

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merav Stern ◽  
Kevin A. Bolding ◽  
L.F. Abbott ◽  
Kevin M. Franks
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Feedback Inhibition ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Odor Coding ◽  
System A ◽  
Coding Strategies ◽  
Concentration Changes ◽  
Recurrent Collateral ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTDifferent coding strategies are used to represent odor information at various stages of the mammalian olfactory system. A temporal latency code represents odor identity in olfactory bulb (OB), but this temporal information is discarded in piriform cortex (PCx) where odor identity is instead encoded through ensemble membership. We developed a spiking PCx network model to understand how this transformation is implemented. In the model, the impact of OB inputs activated earliest after inhalation is amplified within PCx by diffuse recurrent collateral excitation, which then recruits strong, sustained feedback inhibition that suppresses the impact of later-responding glomeruli. Simultaneous OB-PCx recordings indicate that indeed, over a single sniff, the earliest-active OB inputs are most effective at driving PCx activity. We model increasing odor concentrations by decreasing glomerulus onset latencies while preserving their activation sequences. This produces a multiplexed cortical odor code in which activated ensembles are robust to concentration changes while concentration information is encoded through population synchrony. Our model demonstrates how PCx circuitry can implement multiplexed ensemble-identity/temporal-concentration odor coding.

scholarly journals The role of piriform associative connections in odor categorization

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojun Bao ◽  
Louise LG Raguet ◽  
Sydni M Cole ◽  
James D Howard ◽  
Jay A Gottfried
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Object Identification ◽  
Pattern Separation ◽  
Odor Perception ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Multivariate Pattern ◽  
The Brain

Distributed neural activity patterns are widely proposed to underlie object identification and categorization in the brain. In the olfactory domain, pattern-based representations of odor objects are encoded in piriform cortex. This region receives both afferent and associative inputs, though their relative contributions to odor perception are poorly understood. Here, we combined a placebo-controlled pharmacological fMRI paradigm with multivariate pattern analyses to test the role of associative connections in sustaining olfactory categorical representations. Administration of baclofen, a GABA(B) agonist known to attenuate piriform associative inputs, interfered with within-category pattern separation in piriform cortex, and the magnitude of this drug-induced change predicted perceptual alterations in fine-odor discrimination performance. Comparatively, baclofen reduced pattern separation between odor categories in orbitofrontal cortex, and impeded within-category generalization in hippocampus. Our findings suggest that odor categorization is a dynamic process concurrently engaging stimulus discrimination and generalization at different stages of olfactory information processing, and highlight the importance of associative networks in maintaining categorical boundaries.

scholarly journals A transformation from temporal to ensemble coding in a model of piriform cortex

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merav Stern ◽  
Kevin A Bolding ◽  
LF Abbott ◽  
Kevin M Franks
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Feedback Inhibition ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Odor Coding ◽  
System A ◽  
Coding Strategies ◽  
Concentration Changes ◽  
Recurrent Collateral ◽  
The Impact

Different coding strategies are used to represent odor information at various stages of the mammalian olfactory system. A temporal latency code represents odor identity in olfactory bulb (OB), but this temporal information is discarded in piriform cortex (PCx) where odor identity is instead encoded through ensemble membership. We developed a spiking PCx network model to understand how this transformation is implemented. In the model, the impact of OB inputs activated earliest after inhalation is amplified within PCx by diffuse recurrent collateral excitation, which then recruits strong, sustained feedback inhibition that suppresses the impact of later-responding glomeruli. We model increasing odor concentrations by decreasing glomerulus onset latencies while preserving their activation sequences. This produces a multiplexed cortical odor code in which activated ensembles are robust to concentration changes while concentration information is encoded through population synchrony. Our model demonstrates how PCx circuitry can implement multiplexed ensemble-identity/temporal-concentration odor coding.

scholarly journals Wiring logic of the early rodent olfactory system revealed by high-throughput sequencing of single neuron projections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yushu Chen ◽  
Xiaoyin Chen ◽  
Batuhan Baserdem ◽  
Huiqing Zhan ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Output Neurons ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
Circuit Function

The structure of neuronal connectivity often provides insights into the relevant stimulus features, such as spatial location, orientation, sound frequency, etc1-6. The olfactory system, however, appears to lack structured connectivity as suggested by reports of broad and distributed connections both from the olfactory bulb to the piriform cortex7-22 and within the cortex23-25. These studies have inspired computational models of circuit function that rely on random connectivity26-33. It remains, nonetheless, unclear whether the olfactory connectivity contains spatial structure. Here, we use high throughput anatomical methods (MAPseq and BARseq)34-38 to analyze the projections of 5,309 bulb and 30,433 piriform cortex output neurons in the mouse at single-cell resolution. We identify previously unrecognized spatial organization in connectivity along the anterior-posterior axis (A-P) of the piriform cortex. We find that both the bulb projections to the cortex and the cortical outputs are not random, but rather form gradients along the A-P axis. Strikingly, these gradients are matched: bulb neurons targeting a given location within the piriform cortex co-innervate extra-piriform regions that receive strong inputs from neurons within that piriform locus. We also identify signatures of local connectivity in the piriform cortex. Our findings suggest an organizing principle of matched direct and indirect olfactory pathways that innervate extra-piriform targets in a coordinated manner, thus supporting models of information processing that rely on structured connectivity within the olfactory system.

Recent Advances in Mechanisms of Odor Perception

1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 79-84
Author(s):  
André Holley
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Neural Codes ◽  
Odor Perception ◽  
Odor Coding ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Odor Receptors

This paper summarizes recent findings on the olfactory system and on its functioning. Studies in molecular biology indicate that odor receptors are extremely numerous and diverse. These remarkable findings, along with recent data on the functional organization of the olfactory bulb and cortex, provide a framework for revisiting traditional views on odor coding. Both spatial and temporal neural codes seem to participate in the representation of odors in the olfactory system.

scholarly journals What the odor is not: Estimation by elimination

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijay Singh ◽  
Martin Tchernookov ◽  
Vijay Balasubramanian
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Response Functions ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Small Factor ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe olfactory system uses a small number of broadly sensitive receptors to combinatorially encode a vast number of odors. We propose that the brain decodes this distributed representation by exploiting a statistical fact: receptors that do not respond to an odor carry more information than receptors that do because they signal the absence of all odorants that bind to them. Thus, it is easier to identify what the odor is not, rather than what the odor is. For biologically realistic numbers of receptors, response functions, and odor complexity, this method of elimination turns an underconstrained decoding problem into a solvable one, allowing accurate determination of odorants in a mixture and their concentrations. A neural network realization of our algorithm resembles circuit architecture in the piriform cortex. We propose several experimental tests and show an excellent match to data from olfactory discrimination experiments. Our theory also suggests why animals from the fly to the elephant have a few hundred olfactory receptor types, give or take a small factor.

scholarly journals Extinction reverses olfactory fear-conditioned increases in neuron number and glomerular size

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (41) ◽  
pp. 12846-12851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filomene G. Morrison ◽  
Brian G. Dias ◽  
Kerry J. Ressler
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Olfactory Epithelium ◽  
Olfactory System ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Freezing Behavior ◽  
Extinction Training ◽  
Odor Stimulus ◽  
Main Olfactory Epithelium ◽  
Odor Learning

Although much work has investigated the contribution of brain regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex to the processing of fear learning and memory, fewer studies have examined the role of sensory systems, in particular the olfactory system, in the detection and perception of cues involved in learning and memory. The primary sensory receptive field maps of the olfactory system are exquisitely organized and respond dynamically to cues in the environment, remaining plastic from development through adulthood. We have previously demonstrated that olfactory fear conditioning leads to increased odorant-specific receptor representation in the main olfactory epithelium and in glomeruli within the olfactory bulb. We now demonstrate that olfactory extinction training specific to the conditioned odor stimulus reverses the conditioning-associated freezing behavior and odor learning-induced structural changes in the olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb in an odorant ligand-specific manner. These data suggest that learning-induced freezing behavior, structural alterations, and enhanced neural sensory representation can be reversed in adult mice following extinction training.

The brain of the tree pangolin (Manis tricuspis ). II. The olfactory system

2018 ◽  
Vol 526 (16) ◽  
pp. 2548-2569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aminu Imam ◽  
Adhil Bhagwandin ◽  
Moyosore S. Ajao ◽  
Muhammed A. Spocter ◽  
Amadi O. Ihunwo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory System ◽  
The Brain

Hedonic-Specific Activity in Piriform Cortex During Odor Imagery Mimics That During Odor Perception

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 3254-3262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moustafa Bensafi ◽  
Noam Sobel ◽  
Rehan M. Khan
Keyword(s):  
Specific Activity ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Odor Perception ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
Left Insula

Although it is known that visual imagery is accompanied by activity in visual cortical areas, including primary visual cortex, whether olfactory imagery exists remains controversial. Here we asked whether cue-dependent olfactory imagery was similarly accompanied by activity in olfactory cortex, and in particular whether hedonic-specific patterns of activity evident in olfactory perception would also be present during olfactory imagery. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure activity in subjects who alternated between smelling and imagining pleasant and unpleasant odors. Activity induced by imagining odors mimicked that induced by perceiving real odorants, not only in the particular brain regions activated, but also in its hedonic-specific pattern. For both real and imagined odors, unpleasant stimuli induced greater activity than pleasant stimuli in the left frontal portion of piriform cortex and left insula. These findings combine with findings from other modalities to suggest activation of primary sensory cortical structures during mental imagery of sensory events.

scholarly journals SAT-606 Distribution of Beta Klotho Gene Expression in the Mouse Brain

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca S Bono ◽  
Persephone A Miller ◽  
Nikita K Koziel Ly ◽  
Melissa J Chee
Keyword(s):  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Brain Atlas ◽  
Hypothalamic Nucleus ◽  
Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 ◽  
Lateral Olfactory Tract ◽  
Hypothalamic Area ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has emerged as a critical endocrine factor for understanding the neurobiology of obesity, such as by the regulation thermogenesis, food preference, and metabolism, as well as for neuroprotection in Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury. FGF21 is synthesized primarily by the liver and pancreas then crosses the blood brain barrier to exert its effects in the brain. However, the sites of FGF21 action in the brain is not well-defined. FGF21 action requires the activation of FGF receptor 1c as well as its obligate co-receptor beta klotho (KLB). In order to determine the sites of FGF21 action, we mapped the distribution of Klb mRNA by in situ hybridization using RNAscope technology. We labeled Klb distribution throughout the rostrocaudal axis of male wildtype mice by amplifying Klb hybridization using tyramine signal amplification and visualizing Klb hybridization using Cyanine 3 fluorescence. The resulting Klb signal appears as punctate red “dots,” and each Klb neuron may express low (1–4 dots), medium (5–9 dots), or high levels (10+ dots) of Klb hybridization. We then mapped individual Klb expressing neuron to the atlas plates provided by the Allen Brain Atlas in order to determine Klb distribution within the substructures of each brain region, which are defined by Nissl-based parcellations of cytoarchitectural boundaries. The distribution of Klb mRNA is widespread throughout the brain, and the brain regions analyzed thus far point to notable expression in the hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, and the cerebral cortex. The highest expression of Klb was localized to the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus, which contained low and medium Klb-expressing neurons in the lateral hypothalamic area and ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus while low expressing Klb neurons were seen in the paraventricular and dorsmedial hypothalamic nucleus. Hippocampal Klb expression was limited to the dorsal region and largely restricted to the pyramidal cell layer of the dentate gyrus, CA3, CA2, and CA1 but at low levels only. In the amygdala, low and medium Klb expressing cells were seen in lateral amygdala nucleus while low levels were observed in the basolateral amygdala nucleus. Cortical Klb expression analyzed thus far included low Klb-expressing neurons in the olfactory areas, including layers 2 and 3 of piriform cortex and nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract. These findings are consistent with the known roles of FGF21 in the central regulation of energy balance, but also implicates potentially wide-ranging effects of FGF21 such as in executive functions.

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